Kyrgyzstan: President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's Ak Jol party is headed to an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections according to early results, the election authority said today.

With nearly 70 per cent of ballots counted from yesterday's vote, Ak Jol is leading with 46 per cent, said the Central Election Commission spokesman Bakyt Jumagulov.

Ak Jol is followed by the opposition Ata Meken party of former parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev with 9.7 per cent, Jumagulov said.

So far Ak Jol and Ata Meken are the only two parties that are certain to have cleared the 5 per cent hurdle to gain seats in the one-chamber, 90-seat legislature, he said.

Another major opposition group, the Social Democratic Party of former prime minister Almazbek Atambayev is in the third position with 4.7 per cent, according to first results.

The election in this poor ex-Soviet republic has been dogged by allegations of widespread violations and tensions between rival political parties, heightening worries about the stability of the nation that hosts the last US base left in energy-rich, strategic Central Asia.

Opposition groups accused the government of plotting to rig the vote to purge parliament of Bakiyev's political rivals. They threatened to hold mass protests if there were any signs of meddling.

Alleged fraud during the 2005 parliamentary vote led to mass protests that drove then-President Askar Akayev from power.

Source : PTI